African Ecomedia: Network Forms, Planetary Politics

333 Pages·2021·17.932 MB·English

by  Cajetan Iheka

african
ecomedia

african
ecomedia
network forms,
planetary
politics
cajetan
iheka
Duke university Press
Durham and London 2021
© 2021 Duke University Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper ♾
Designed by Aimee C. Harrison
Typeset in Portrait Text and Bluu Next (font by Jean-Baptiste Morizot)
by Tseng Information Systems, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Iheka, Cajetan Nwabueze, author.
Title: African ecomedia: network forms, planetary politics / Cajetan Iheka.
Description: Durham: Duke University Press, 2021. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021000888 (print)
LCCN 2021000889 (ebook)
ISBN 9781478013815 (hardcover)
ISBN 9781478014744 (paperback)
ISBN 9781478022046 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Afrofuturism. | Arts, African. | Figurative art—Africa. |
Mass media and art—Africa. | Environmental sciences—Philosophy. |
Human ecology—Africa. | Ecology in art. | BISAC: SOCIAL SCIENCE / Media Studies |
HISTORY / Africa / General
Classification: LCC NX587. I34 2021 (print) | LCC NX587 (ebook) | DDC 700.96—dc23
LC record available at https: //lccn.loc.gov/2021000888
LC ebook record available at https: //lccn.loc.gov/2021000889
Cover art: Fabrice Monteiro, “Female figure, trees, and fire,”
from The Prophecy. © 2015 Artist Rights Society (ARS),
New York / ADAGP, Paris.
Duke University Press gratefully acknowledges The Frederick W.
Hilles Publication Fund of Yale University, which provided
funds toward the publication of this book.
for Clara Famutimi

who will not hold this
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contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
1 Waste Reconsidered. Afrofuturism, Technologies of the Past,
and the History of the Future 25
2 Spatial Networks, Toxic Ecoscapes, and (In)visible Labor 64
3 Ecologies of Oil and Uranium. Extractive Energy and
the Trauma of the Future 108
4 Human Meets Animal, Africa Meets Diaspora.
The Conjunctions of Cecil the Lion and Black Lives Matter 152
5 African Urban Ecologies. Transcriptions of Precarity,
Creativity, and Futurity 186
Epilogue. Toward Imperfect Media 221
Notes 231
Bibliography 273
Index 305

illustrations
1.1 Landfill at Mbeubeuss, The Prophecy © Fabrice Monteiro, 2015 42
1.2 Discomfited winged figure and animal waste, The Prophecy
© Fabrice Monteiro, 2015 43
1.3 Figure clothed in nets, The Prophecy © Fabrice Monteiro, 2015 46
1.4 Female underwater, The Prophecy © Fabrice Monteiro, 2015 49
1.5 Female and bare trees, The Prophecy © Fabrice Monteiro, 2015 52
1.6 Female figure, trees, and fire, The Prophecy © Fabrice Monteiro, 2015 53
1.7 Female figure, car, and truck, The Prophecy © Fabrice Monteiro, 2015 54
1.8 Female coming onshore with ship behind her, The Prophecy
© Fabrice Monteiro, 2015 55
2.1 Computer detritus in dirt, Permanent Error © Pieter Hugo, 2011 71
2.2 Burning computer unit, Permanent Error © Pieter Hugo, 2011 72
2.3 Cow resting on ground, Permanent Error © Pieter Hugo, 2011 74
2.4–2.6 “Zakaria Salifu,” Permanent Error © Pieter Hugo, 2011 76
2.7 “Abdulai Yahaya,” Permanent Error © Pieter Hugo, 2011 78
2.8 Mohammed Musam,” Permanent Error © Pieter Hugo, 2011 80
2.9 “Ibrahim Sulley,” Permanent Error © Pieter Hugo, 2011 82
3.1 Front cover, Curse of the Black Gold © Ed Kashi/VII, 2008 115
3.2 Inside front cover, Curse of the Black Gold © Ed Kashi/VII, 2008 116
3.3 Excerpt from United Nations Development Programme
Niger Delta Report, Curse of the Black Gold, 2008 117